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Welcome to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

On this episode, we’re all about family—as we explore families of wind and string instruments of the Renaissance. These instrument families typically included at least two members of varying sizes and pitches, and this hour, we’ll hear the distinctive sounds of a brood of viols, a colony of lutes, a flock of recorders, and a gathering of shawms and bagpipes , performing sacred and secular works by composers like John Dowland, Gaspar Fernandes, William Byrd, and Ludwig Senfl. Plus, we’ll explore the world of Italian madrigals, à la Heinrich Schütz, on our featured release by Les Arts Florissants, directed by Paul Agnew.

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Chansons et Danceries: French Renaissance Wind Music
Piffaro
Archiv Produktion 1994/ ocm36442519
Track 4. Nicolas Gombert, Musae Jovis (04:31)

Nicolas Gombert’s, “Musae Jovis” performed on recorders by the ensemble Piffaro.

This instrumental arrangement of "Musae Jovis" offers a new perspective on Gombert’s lament on the death of his predecessor and mentor Josquin des Prés. In this piece, Piffaro showcases the versatility of recorders in Renaissance music. We’ll hear more from this ensemble in a bit, performing on recorders, as well as some different instrument families.

Just as our families consist of many individuals, families of instruments can include two to eight members with different voice types. In our exploration of wind and string families, we’ll begin with the viol. In the Renaissance, members of this bowed and fretted string instrument clan consisted of three sizes—treble, tenor, and bass; and as a set they were referred to as a “chest.”

Here is the Dowland Consort performing two pieces on 5 violes and lute by Renaissance composer John Dowland.

Lachrimae, or seaven teares
Dowland Consort
BIS-CD-315/ 7318590003152
Naxos 1986
John Dowland
Track 1 I. Lachrimae Antiquae (3:50)
Track 2 II. Lachrimae Antiquae Nouae (3:51)

“Lachrimae Antiquae” and “Lachrimae Antiquae Nouae,” music by John Dowland performed on violes and lute by the Dowland Consort.

A well-known instrument family in the Renaissance was the recorder. Renaissance recorders had a smaller range of about 13 notes. This wind instrument family consisted of eight common sizes ranging from a low contrabass up to a high sopranino. The largest contrabass could be more than six feet tall while the smallest sopranino recorder could be just a few inches tall!

Here is the Baltimore Consort with two dances from the Liber Primus Leviorum Carminum, a collection published by Pierre Phalèse, a bookseller for the University of Leuven who eventually founded one of the major music publishing houses in northern Europe in the 16th-century.

Gut, Wind & Wire
Baltimore Consort
Sono Luminus 2011
Pierre Phalese
Track 3 Liber Primus Leviorum Carminum: Laroque Galliard (1:16)
Track 4 Liber Primus Leviorum Carminum: Alemande de Liege (1:28)

That was the Baltimore Consort performing “Laroque Galliard” and “Alemande de Liege” from the Liber Primus Leviorum Carminum, published by Pierre Phalese . Phalese’s publishing company lasted multiple generations, passing to his son and then to his two granddaughters, who ran the business for another 45 years.

In the Renaissance, recorders were created from a single piece of wood with cut finger holes, and a typical family would contain a higher alto voice in G, two middle tenor voices in C, and a lower bass voice in F. Some (pieces of) music could feature four or five recorders at a time.

Next up— two Portuguese dances by Gaspar Fernandes played on recorders.

Los Ministriles in the New World
Piffaro
Navona 2012/ NV5875NV5875
Gaspar Fernandes
Track 18 Ah, de Abajo! (4:03)
Track 17 Oy, descubre la grandesa (02:09)

That was Piffaro performing “Ah, de Abajo!” and “Oy, descubre la grandesa” by Gaspar Fernandes.

Recorders could be used for sacred or secular music in the Renaissance, and recorder consorts were created by professional and amateur musicians. Let’s hear some secular English music by William Byrd played on recorders: three Fantasias performed by the B-Five Recorder Consort.

Consort Music and Songs
B-Five Recorder Consort
Coviello-Classics 2016/ 91725
William Byrd
Track 8 Fantasia I (2:02)
Track 12 Fantasia II (4:25)
Track 1 Fantasia III (3:13)

That was Fantasia I, II, and III by William Byrd, performed by the B-Five Recorder Consort.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

MUSIC TRACK naxos download / in prod folder
Lachrimae, or seaven teares
Dowland Consort
BIS-CD-315/ 7318590003152
Naxos 1986
John Dowland
Tr. 18 M. Thomas Collier his Galiard with two trebles (excerpt of 1:21)

Welcome back. We’ve been listening to instrument families of the Renaissance.

Like their instrument cousin the recorder, bagpipes and shawms were used for both sacred and secular music. These double reed instruments have harsh and powerful sounds and worked well for performances in outdoor ceremonies. Their families ranged from two to five instruments. Let’s hear them in some arrangements by Ludwig Senfl, performed by the ensemble Piffaro.

Stadtpfeiffer: Music of Renaissance Germany
Piffaro
Dorian 2001 / B001M14A5C
Ludwig Senfl
Track 4 Ach Elslein, Liebes Elselein Mein (1:01)
Track 5 Im Maien (1:36)
Track 9 Ein Maidlein Zue Dem Brunnen Gieng (4:23)

Pieces by composer Ludwig Senfl performed on bagpipes and shawms by Piffaro.

You’re listening to Harmonia . . . I’m Angela Mariani.

Our featured release this hour is Heinrich Schütz: Italian Madrigals by Les Arts Florissants. The recording showcases nineteen madrigals in an Italian style by Schütz. The madrigals come from the collection Il Primo Libro de Madrigali written in 1611. The album features a family of voices, including two soprano voices, two tenor voices, a bass voice, and viola. Les Arts Florissants’ interpretation of these madrigals captures the elegance and expressive intensity of the Italian style by highlighting the Italianate characteristics and emotions of the texts, as set by Schütz. The recording, led by Paul Agnew, was released in October 2023.

Let’s hear their interpretation of Madrigals 1-4.

MUSIC TRACK naxos download / in prod folder
Heinrich Schütz: Italian Madrigals
Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew, dir.
Harmonia Mundi 2023 / HAF8905374
Heinrich Schütz
Track 1 Il Primo Libro de Madrigali SWV 001: O primavera (3:29)
Track 2 Il Primo Libro de Madrigali SWV 002: O dolcezze amarissime (2:45)
Track 3 Il Primo Libro de Madrigali SWV 003: Selve beate (3:16)
Track 4 Il Primo Libro de Madrigali SWV 004: Alma afflitta (3:20)

From Heinrich Schütz’s Il Primo Libro de Madrigali: (we heard) “O primavera,” “O dolcezze amarissime,” “Selve beate,” and “Alma afflitta.” Paul Agnew led Les Arts Florissants on this hour’s featured recording, Heinrich Schütz: Italian Madrigals, released on the Harmonia Mundi label in October 2023.

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Harmonia is a production of WFIU and part of the educational mission of Indiana University.
Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that advocates and supports the historical performance of music of the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched by it. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

We welcome your thoughts about any part of this program, or about early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. You can follow us on Facebook by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The writer for this edition of Harmonia is Alice Frisch.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash, and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Aaron Cain, and John Bailey. I’m Angela Mariani, inviting you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

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